But, despite the slow start, the “sense of satisfaction” Samuels got from that deal led him to become the dealership’s Motability specialist. Two years later, when the Horsemans group collapsed, he became a self-employed Motability consultant.
When he and Jan’s first child was born, Samuels decided to return to the world of salaried work and in 1998 joined Widnes Car Centre.
But Samuels admits the desire to run his own business never left him, and in 1998 he and Jan took the plunge and founded Aspect.
Samuels’s contacts and experience meant his business soon began its steady growth.
Then, as now, Jan directed day-to-day operations while Samuels focused on developing the business and new products.
Some 18 months after it was launched, Aspect achieved that coveted Motability supplier status, which paid those expected dividends.
In 2004, Aspect became the largest supplier of wheelchair-accessible vehicles to Motability, and in 2006 it won a Motability supplier award.
The scheme, says Samuels, has become hugely more streamlined since those difficult early 80s days and Aspect has a strong relationship with it.
Aspect’s sub-contractors convert a range of vehicles, including the Renault Kangoo and the Fiat Doblo, so wheelchair users can easily get into the car using a ramp.
Samuels says the company has designed and then modified its vehicles, based on feedback from wheelchair users.
As an example, he says the Kangoo Assist, which allows wheelchair users to move from their chair to the driver’s seat inside the vehicle, was created after a student customer said she wanted a car that allowed her to be more independent.
It was customer feedback that led to the creation of WAV-Evolution. An Aspect survey asking customers to “think Utopian” about what they wanted in a vehicle showed they wanted to travel in the front of their vehicle and to be able to get in and out more quickly.
As a result, WAV-Evolution vehicles allow wheelchair users to wheel into the front seat by means of a ramp and a revolving floor mechanism. Put simply, WAV-Evolution vehicles are conversions of KIA Sedona people-carriers – but to Samuels they are much more than that. He is a softly-spoken man, but his eyes burn with enthusiasm when he talks about his new venture.
“This will change the concept of what a wheelchair-accessible vehicle has to be. For 40 years, it’s been the same – you come in through the back of the car.”
Samuels is in talks about selling WAV-Evolution overseas, and he sees the project as the key driver of Aspect’s expansion with new ranges set to be built.
Despite his ambitious growth plans, Samuels says he expects the business to stay in its current base, tucked away behind semi-detached homes in a quiet Southport street.
There, that pink carpet remnant will always remind him and Jan of their push from back bedroom to big business.
“It may seem odd that a little company in Southport has produced something that could ultimately be a worldwide brand, but that’s what’s happened,” he said. “I have to pinch myself to believe it.”
alistairhoughton@dailypost.co.uk
